JACKSON, KY – WolfeCounty residents who want to learn more about the major widening project now underway on the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway will have an opportunity to do so on Monday, Oct. 20.

The Wolfe County Kiwanis Club will host representatives from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and others involved with the $48 million project during their regular meeting on Oct. 20. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Wolfe County Public Library, and members of the general public are invited and encouraged to attend to hear an update on the project.

Work recently began on the project to widen 3.1 miles of the two-lane portion of the Mountain Parkway between exits 43 and 46. The project will also include the addition of a ramp from northbound KY 15 to the parkway eastbound.

Ground was broken on the project last October, and work began in earnest last month. The project is expected to be completed sometime in 2011.

In order to speed up the project, it has been designated as one of 10 “design-build” projects authorized by the General Assembly in 2006. Under the “design-build” approach, all phases of the project – design, utility relocation, right-of-way acquisition and construction – take place simultaneously.

The project calls for a new bridge at Exit 43, and work recently began on that structure. This has caused a minor shift in traffic patterns at the exit, as well as a reduction in speed limits in the area, and motorists are asked to use caution in the area.